


To the Surface

by Windrose1013



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-04-03 11:05:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4098715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windrose1013/pseuds/Windrose1013
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After eighteen years in the sky, Laniy finds herself falling through the clouds to a world she never believed in. With her life turned on its head, how does she know who to trust?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Too Early

**Author's Note:**

> This story was started by my sister on FF, but she gave up on it and asked me to rewrite and finish it for her. I hope you all enjoy.

Sunlight streamed through the window, but Laniy ignored it. The comfort of her pillows outweighed the obligations of the day. Unfortunately for her, the red-head standing over her had other plans.

"Laniy, time to get up," Karane said in a singsong voice, but the sleepy girl ignored her. "You'd better get up, or I'll dump this bucket of water on you."

"Go away," she whined giving Karane all the permission she needed to keep her word. Almost dropping the bucket in the process, she splashed it over her dozing friend. "What the hell?!" Laniy screached, water dripping from her pale face and dark hair.

"I did warn you." Karen set down the bucket and looked at her best friend with a smirk. "Now get up. It's a big day."

"Yeah, sure. Seriously, what's your deal, waking me up on the weekend. You let me sleep through classes."

"Did you forget what today is?" Laniy only raised an eyebrow at her while kicking away the soaked bedsheets. "You cannot be serious. Who forgets their eighteenth birthday?"

"Someone who was just rudely awakened by her so called best friend." She groaned. "Whatever, I'm up. Now, shoo!"

The redhead laughed. "I'm gone, but you better hurry up or I just might start chattin' up a certain professor."

"Don't you dare." She glared pointedly at Karane, who chuckled as she finally left the room.

The blanket was pulled from the bed and draped over her desk chair. She had had this happen to her before and knew how annoying having to sleep in a soaked bed was. Laniy then set to dressing, putting on a casual pair of trousers and a yellow tunic she wore loose about her. Her hair was always a bit of a chore. The brown locks hung past her knees and had a tendency to tangle if her brushing was anything less than meticulous. Once brushed, she pulled it back with a bandana and checked herself in the mirror.

The young woman didn't think highly of her appearance, with her strange pink eyes and rounded ears. She looked completely different from anyone on any of the sky islands as far as she had seen. With a frown she turned away and left her room, heading for the dining hall.

"Happy birthday!" her classmates called out as she entered the room. The teachers and even some people from around the island had come to wish her well. She smiled and walked in to greet everyone who came by, thanking them, before Karane put an arm over her shoulder.

"Glad you could make it," she said. "I was worried I'd have to fill another bucket."

"Funny. Did you set all this up?" She gestured to the people in the room and tilted her head to Karane. She wasn't especially close to anyone else, having only a few friends, so the crowded room was a surprise.

The younger girl just shrugged. "I thought it would be fun, and everyone was nice enough to help. Now come on, birthday girl. You got some mingling to do." The younger girl gently pushed her friend forward into the crowd.

"Happy birthday, Laniy," said a familiar voice beside her. She turned to smile at her favorite teacher. "Thanks, Professor. It sure was nice of everyone to put this together."

"We all wanted to wish you luck," Horwell smiled. "With the Wing Ceremony right around the corner, we're all very excited. So just enjoy yourself; you only get to be eighteen once."

"Yeah. Still not sure what I'm gonna do about that, though." She laughed and shrugged her shoulders."I may be competing in the Ceremony, but I don't think I could beat Link. I swear, he's got to have his own wings for how good he is."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Horwell placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, which Laniy could feel acutely. Reminding herself that this was Horwell and that he was affectionate with everyone did nothing to fade the red from her cheeks. 

She shrugged, silently mourning the loss of the warm hand on her shoulder. "It's true though. I barely scraped into the race as it is."

" I'm certain you can surprise everyone. You only need to have some faith in yourself."

"I guess I'm just worried. This is the last year I get to try. If I don't graduate to become a knight, then what am I supposed to do?"

He nodded, accepting her worry, before taking on a thoughtful expression. "I believe something can be worked out should you need it."

"Well, I wouldn't turn into a layabout or something. I just never gave enough thought to failing to come up with a back-up plan."

"How would you like teaching?" Horwell grinned. "I believe you coyld have a knack for it, if you'd like to try."

"Teaching?" She considered it. "Never thought about it before. It would be a career I could take pride in though."

"I'm glad to hear it. Perhaps you can sit in on a lesson or two of mine and see how you feel about it." 

She gave a grateful smile. "That sounds great!"

"How does tomorrow sound? I understand you have some free time in the afternoon?" 

"Yeah, I can be there right after lunch!"

Laniy felt a hand on her shoulder as Karane chose to cut in. "Sorry to interrupt," she said, facing Horwell, "but I'm gonna have to steal your conversation partner for a bit. Chef made cloud cakes and she has to have one before I can!"

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Laniy asked as she was pulled away. Horwell nodded and smiled.

"Hold up," Karen paused as they approached the table. "See him for what?" She gave a knowing grin.

"Not like that," Laniy sighed. "He offered to have me as his assistant."  
"Awww, how sweet!" She clapped her hands. "Before you know it, you'll have more babies than you can count!"

Laniy gave her friend a punch in the shoulder. They had reached the tray of pastries and Laniy took one, letting everyone sing a song of blessings for the year to come before she bit into it, savoring the warm confection. As she chewed, she couldn't help but feel that something was going to change soon and a feeling of quiet anticipation settled in her gut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time, no see. I know I dropped the ball on this fic over a year ago, but for whatever reason, I decided to return to it. But before I add any continuations or whatever, I'm going though to edit the writing on the chapters I did post. Gotta get back into the headspace of this story. So, yeah. Cool.


	2. Waking Up

The morning following her party woke Laniy with a sunrise as bright as the day before, but the discovery that she was not alone in her bed left her surprised. Her shock turned to annoyance however when she came to recognize the red hair of her new bed mate.

"Get up," she groaned, tugging at Karane to no avail.

She pulled herself from the bed in defeat when her eyes fell on the bucket from yesterday. A wicked grin played at the corners of her mouth as she went to pick it up and take it to the washroom. The hallway was empty as she crept through it, still wary of any passerby asking what she was up to so uncharacteristically early.

Once the pail was full she stepped back out to the hallway, nearly hitting Horwell who was standing right outside the door.

He eyed the bucket before turning his gaze back to the brunette. "Why do you have that?"

"Just going to wash my room a bit." She tried to step around him but he blocked her.

"Really? Early morning cleaning?"

"No better time to." Neither her tone nor her smile seemed to convince him as he let out a sigh.

"You're going to dump it on Karane, aren't you?"

"What? Nooo." Even knowing she was caught, Laniy refused to give in. "Do you really believe I could do something so mean?"

The smirk and slightly raised eyebrow spoke volumes of his disbelief. "Don't be late to classes." He stepped around her to the washroom. "The same goes for Karane."

Laniy laughed as she walked back to her room, the halls still empty, though sounds of students waking and getting ready drifted through.

She opened the door softly and stepped through the door only to see her bed empty. She surveyed the room and held her bucket close, fearing an ambush. She was just about to step back into the hall when she was proven right.

Karane jumped out and kicked the bottom of the bucket, sending it from Laniy's arms and onto the floor, but not before it soaked the front of her shirt.

" You'd have to get up pretty early to pull one over on me," the red head taunted, unsympathetic of her friend's state.

Laniy kicked the door shut with a huff before she stomped to her hamper. As she removed her wet clothes, she turned her gaze back to Karane. "Why were you even in here?"

" I just wanted to snuggle," she shrugged, planting herself on the bed.

"Aww, how sweet." Laniy rolled her eyes before laughing and opening her wardrobe. As she sorted through her clothes, wondering what she should wear today, Karane began kicking her feet back and forth.

"You wanna go flying after lessons today?" she asked watching the wall.

"I'm gonna be sitting in on Horwell's class," Laniy reminded, slipping on a pair of white tights and matching long-sleeve shirt.

"Oh, right." 

"But we should have some time after supper."

"Yeah, that sounds good!" Karane turned back to Laniy who finished her outfit with an emerald dress and was wrapping a leather belt around herself. Karane whistled. "Someone's looking forward to her extracurricular activities." She laughed and ducked as a hanger was thrown her way.

"Shouldn't you be getting dressed?" Laniy scolded while grabbing her boots.

"I guess," Karane conceded. "See ya in a bit," she called as she shut the door behind her.

Laniy laced up her boots before standing at the mirror to fix her hair. She debated putting it up, but she didn't usually and decided that today wasn't really a special occasion or anything. She just brushed it and let it fall like it always did.

Several students were walking to the dininig hall when she joined their commute. They ignored her, as they usually did. Most had realized that she didn't take kindly to any insults they could throw at her, not that she would ever admit that she agreed with most of what they said.

She knew she was different and she knew what people said about her. After a lifetime on the island, she had to learn to accept the gossip, though she still threw punches if the comments got too close to her ears. 

Of all the things she was called, "pushover" was not one of them.

When she arrived in the dining hall, Karane waved to her. Laniy smiled back and grabbed a bowl of pumpkin porridge for breakfast before making her way to the spot that had been saved for her. Not that anyone would've wanted to sit with the two of them.

"And how did you get here before me?" Karane was fully dressed and had pulled her hair into two neat tails. Nothing about her appearance would suggest she'd only gotten changes minutes before.

"How come you always take so long?" she shot back teasingly. 

Laniy sat and rolled her eyes. She didn't take _that_ long. She just had a lot of hair to brush. She dug into her breakfast and Karane began chatting about some cute knitting project she had going on. She was making scarves, but was having trouble finding a decent red dye for her yarn.

Their headmaster entered the dining hall, calling for attention which the students gave him immediately. "I am sure you all are aware of this weeks importance," he began, stepping to the center of the room to make sure everyone could see him. "For the next week, the young women who have signed up to compete for the role of Lady Hylia in our Wing Ceremony shall be proving their capability." He went on to detail the history of the ceremony, and Laniy tuned out. She had heard all of this before. 

Once the schedules were announced at the end of his spiel, Karane turned to Laniy with a huge grin on her face. "Oh, this is exciting!" She was practically vibrating in her seat. "I know I'm gonna win this year!"

" You say that every year," Laniy reminded her.

"Sure, but this year you won't be there to distract me from performing my best!"

"Okay, that's fair." Laniy listened as her friend talked animatedly of the upcoming competition. Karane was as into the formal and sophisticated as one could be while training to become a knight.

Breakfast was nearly over when it happened. Groose walked over to their table, being the only person stupid enough to force a confrontation. Laniy looked up when he reached them.

"Yeah?" Even sitting, his large stature did nothing to intimidate her. She knew she could take him and had done so before.

"So you're going for the Wing Ceremony, right?" He laughed. "It's not like they'd make you the Lady anyway. She's supposed to be beautiful." His gaze moved to the headmaster's daughter who was chatting with Link. He huffed and turned back.

"How sweet of you to notice," Laniy smirked. "Actually, I decided to race so that I could show you how a Loftwing is meant to behave." She stood, feeling much taller than the boy who stood over a head above her. "Maybe you should try out for our Lady's Maiden. You certainly have the hips for it."

Groose's face burned as he tried to inconspicuously check out his hips, but no one was fooled and Laniy chuckled. " Shut up!" he called, shoving her backwards where she hit Karane.

"Hey!" Karane stood, but Laniy was already moving in on Groose.

"You jerk!" She pulled back a fist let it fly towards the muscular redhead, but he moved, anticipating the attack. "I'll rip your hair off!" she cried, undettered.

While one of his hands moved to protect his ridiculous hair, the other tried and failed to block her second punch that landed in his stomach. His breath blew out and she went for his face but her arm was grabbed before she could make good on her threat.

"Hey, what gives...." The words died in her throat as she turned and met the disappointed gaze of Horwell. She looked down, anger turning to shame, and he dropped her arm with a sigh.

"Come with me, both of you," he said, turning away and knowing they would follow. Laniy kept her gaze to the floor, beating herself up for letting her temper take over like that. When they reached the headmaster's office, she still kept her gaze away from everyone. She knew she deserved whatever punishment she was given and waited to be asked to speak.

"I have lost track of the number of times the two of you have been brought here, though you both seem in better shape than usual." The headmaster laughed at his own joke, while Groose mumbled something no one quite caught. "I will get on with it, then. The both of you will be solely responsible for cleaning duties for the next month." He held up a hand as Groose was about to speak. "No, I believe this is quite fair. If you wish to act like children, then you will be treated as such."

Laniy nodded and finally looked up, meeting the gaze of the headmaster. 

" That is all," he said, waving his hand in dismissal.

"Yes, sir," they both echoed before leaving.

Groose opened his mouth to speak, but snapped it shut in an uncharacteristic show of restraint. 

They silently walked to their classrooms and parted, Groose still fuming and Laniy more reserved as she took her seat. She expected Karane for a moment before remembering that she had Maiden's training. The class started and Laniy listened or Owlen detail the history of metallurgy.

_Oh, yay. My favorite._ Laniy wrote down her notes for awhile before turning away to stare out the window. 

_You should be listening, Lazanna._

She jolted at the foreign voice in her head, garnering a couple glances from her classmates.

_What?_ She shook her head, trying to dispell the odd thought.

_So you can hear me. Excellent!_ The voice laughed in delight making Laniy's head spin.

_What the hell?_ She pressed her palm to her forehead, trying to stop the room from spinning. Sweat beaded under her hand and she began to gasp for air.

"Laniy?" called the professor, making the entire class turn to look. "Are you feeling alright?"

She tried to respond, to shake her head or say something, but her sight was going black and her stomach turned over in knots. Her head pounded and she could still feel the echo of the intruder. 

Just as Owlen reached for her, she turned threw up her breakfast onto the floor. The other students gasped in repulsion, and Owlen grabbed her to keep her from falling from the chair. He yelled something, but she couldn't hear. All she heard was the resounding excitement of the voice in her head as the world fell away.


End file.
